Kiwi school pupils to get free access to NZ Herald Premium

School kids throughout the country will now have access to the Herald's Premium content. Photo / Duncan Brown

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) has today announced New Zealand secondary, intermediate and primary school pupils and their teachers will be given free classroom access to the NZ Herald's Premium digital news subscription service.

Since launching in April last year, the number of New Zealanders accessing NZ Herald Premium news content has climbed to more than 82,000.

"We've been delighted that so many New Zealanders have shown the value they place on quality journalism by supporting our newsrooms through their Premium subscriptions," said NZME CEO Michael Boggs.

"Offering the more than 800,000 school-age Kiwis and more than 60,000 teachers classroom access to the best journalism New Zealand has to offer, is our way of saying thank you."

New readers seeking journalism they can trust have been reading the New Zealand Herald in record numbers. Readership of the New Zealand Herald in the 12 months to June jumped 16 per cent on the same period last year to 546,000 daily readers. The New Zealand Herald's weekly readers now total just under 1 million New Zealanders.

The same data released by Nielsen shows a growing number of younger New Zealanders engaging with NZME's online news sites. The New Zealand Herald's weekly Brand audience of 15 to 17-year olds is up 12 per cent in the 12 months to July 2020.

This year, the New Zealand Herald was named newspaper of the year and nzherald.co.nz won website of the year and best news website/app at the 2020 New Zealand Voyager Media Awards.

"NZ Herald Premium features all of the very best journalism our newsrooms have to offer," said Boggs.

New Zealand Herald editorial news conference at the bridge of the NZME newsroom. Photo / Jason Oxenham.

In a trial run, the pupils and teachers from Cashmere High School in Christchurch have been able to access Premium stories while at school for several weeks.

Cashmere High's Physical Education and Health teacher Pete Smith says NZ Herald Premium content is being accessed across all departments.

"In Social Sciences it's being used by students investigating and reflecting on current global and international issues, in technology for articles on food and hospitality tech, food sustainability and innovation.

"In Year 13 Health we're using NZ Herald Premium constantly for all topics. In one assessment the Year 13s are looking at the impact poverty has on children and their health and well-being. NZ Herald has a large number of articles that relate to these issues," said Smith.

While the majority of the news content created by New Zealand Herald journalists is freely accessible – at nzherald.co.nz, NZ Herald Premium houses unique and exclusive New Zealand journalism with investigative reporting and critical analysis of New Zealand's political, business and economic landscapes.

"Giving young New Zealanders access to more quality journalism delivered by local and trusted reporters hopefully helps teachers foster curiosity, critical thinking and will help combat the scourge of fake news. I also hope it will encourage more young Kiwis to consider a career in journalism," said NZ Herald Head of Premium, Miriyana Alexander.

Schools interested in accessing NZ Herald Premium should visit subscriptions.nzherald.co.nz/school to register your school for free access.